Chemotherapy frequently induces hair loss (also referred to as alopecia). With chemotherapy, patients not only experience reduced stamina and independence but also must wear a physical symbol of their illness in the loss of their hair. This loss of hair is a traumatic experience that may well result in lower self-esteem and overall resistance. In fact, some patients are known to have refused chemotherapy for fear of losing their hair.
Scalp tourniquets have been used for several decades in an attempt to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia. This technique involves the placement of a pneumatic tourniquet around the hairline at the time of administration of the chemotherapeutic drug. The tourniquet is then inflated to a pressure above the systolic arterial pressure, in order to reduce blood flow to the scalp. The effectiveness of this technique has never been unambiguously demonstrated.
The use of scalp tourniquets has more or less been replaced by scalp hypothermia. With this technique, the scalp temperature is lowered to below 24° C. by application of cold packs, etc., prior to chemotherapy. Hypothermy has been reported to afford a 50-70% good to excellent hair protective effect. However, results have remained notoriously variable. Furthermore, hair thinning is still unsatisfactory for an unacceptably large number of patients, resulting in a preference to wear a wig in public rather than display thinning hair. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,728 (herein incorporated by reference) describes an attempt to minimize alopecia using hypothermy by use of a fluid circulating cap. While such scalp cooling reduces the cytotoxic effect chemotherapy drugs on hair follicles, follicles are still damaged.
Pharmacologic approaches to preventing chemotherapy-induced alopecia have also been used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,405,080 (herein incorporated by reference) discloses that several pharmacological approaches for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced hair loss have been tested. But currently applicant is not aware of any drug on the market that generally protects against chemotherapy-induced alopecia, and there are only few drug candidates believed to be under active development.
Photo-stimulation of follicles has been attempted for the amelioration of alopecia, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,722,655 (herein incorporated by reference). Photo-stimulation is used to stimulate regrowth of hair follicles, particularly after hair thinning is detected, and has been used with some success.
Furthermore, all of the previous methods have unwanted side effects from either the cooling process or chemicals.
While a variety of devices and techniques have been proposed for ameliorating the effects of chemotherapy-induced alopecia, it is believed that no one prior to the inventor has made or used an invention as described herein.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the invention may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.